Easter Dinner help?

[shabbychick]

I have a little bit of a cooking problem. I was given a 3-cup rice cooker for Christmas. I would like to use it to make some long grain brown rice for Easter dinner tomorrow. There are no recipes in the packaging and nothing that says how long it takes for the rice to cook, so I have no idea how soon to start the cooker. I also don't know if it's okay to use chicken broth in place of the water and when to add flavorings in the cooking process. Can anyone give me some advice? Thanks!

[Gigi]

Oh I wish I could help you---but I bet you could google-cooking long grain rice in a cooker- and you'd get a hit...

And have a Happy Easter- I hope it all goes well!

[Evelyn]

I always do a 2 parts water to 1 cup rice ratio in my rice cooker - it seems like it takes a half hour or so. I have not used chicken broth, but I don't see why it would not work.

Good luck!

[rubyslippers]

When Cottage Living was closing, I headed over to Cooking Light's forums for a little while. It is a HUGE forum; so, I didn't stay, BUT they were incredibly helpful. You might be able to search for the answer over there; however, I'm not sure you can get added quickly enough. Also, you can use chicken broth and/or veggie broth in the place of water to season rice - - that is just a personal taste preference. I would go easy with the seasonings until you are sure because just like a crock-pot, I think rice slow-cookers intensify flavor a little. Anyway, with that said, I'm no further help ... but someone out there MUST be doing the same thing right now. Good luck with Easter dinner!

[shabbychick]

Thanks for your advice, everyone. I ended up using two cups of rice and 3.5 cups of water. I forgot about the chicken broth till I already had the water in, so I went ahead with that. I added a package of onion soup mix and a little butter, and it turned out pretty well. It was still a little on the crunchy side, but my sister says she likes it better than way, anyway. At any rate, the dinner was a success even though it got to the table about 3 hours later than I had planned for it to. Luckily there were lots of appetizers to get them through the wait. Now I have a kitchen piled to the rafters with dirty dishes that I'll have to get to "one of these days." Now I need a nap. :)

[ChapterTwo]

Shabbychick - I'm glad you survived and everything turned out pretty well. I've never used a rice cooker, so I was no help to you. My kitchen storage is very limited, so I try not to get too many extra items.

The gourmet cooks will sneer, but I depend on Minute Rice (white and brown) and as the commercial says, in a few minutes, it's "perfect, every time"! ;)

[shabbychick]

You're safe with me. I never sneer at anything that saves time. There's a nice brown rice from Trader Joe's that cooks in its own bag in 3 minutes, and it's quite tasty. White rice isn't on my diet, so I wanted to experiment with different brown rices, most of which aren't instant. I'm wondering if I can use my rice cooker for beans, too. I used to live with a woman who made a big batch of rice and beans in her rice cooker every week and had those for lunch. That's nice, inexpensive meal if it turns out, hgh in fiber and protein, low in calories. I'm thinking I could add some chicken bits or something, throw in some leftover veggies, and have a really nice lunch.

[Breezy]

shabbychick ~ I'm glad the dinner turned out well for you.:)

ChapterTwo ~ I'm with you ~ Minute Rice all the way!;)

[ChapterTwo]

Shabbychick and Breezy...thank you for not sneering at me and my Minute Rice! ;)
And tnx for the tip on Trader Joe's rice...I'll make a mental note to get some the next time I'm there. (LOVE that store...)

My son is the white rice eater - my daughter and I eat brown.

That sounds like a great idea to make the rice/bean combo in the rice cooker.

*******
Lookee, Lookee at what I found - Rice Cooker Recipes! http://www.gapersblock.com/airbags/archives/the_rice_cooker_is_your_friend/

[shabbychick]

Thanks for the rice cooker recipes! I'm going to make a batch of rice and beans right now to have for breakfast.

[cheapdiva]

when I am not feeling well or want comfort food - Minute Rice it is! Love it with lots of butter, a little salt (I'm not a salt eater except for rice and corn on the cob!) and lots of pepper. Getting hungry just thinking about it!!

[CohenCottage]

You just made me crave plain rice with butter and salt BAD!!

[cheapdiva]

Sure . . . . blame me!!:p

[kall]

Good luck with your kitchen cooking, it's too late for me to give you any tips for the easter dinner, I hope you did well.